Actor MARLON WAYANS reveals he went through 'five stages of grief' to get to 'acceptance' as he opens up about his transgender child

Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - American actor and comedian, Marlon Wayans has opened up about fatherhood to his transgender child Kai.

The Scary Movie star, 52, first revealed in November that his eldest child was transgender, saying 'I have a daughter that transitioned into a son.'

In a candid interview on The Jennifer Hudson Show, Wayans discussed how he had adapted to Kai's transition, saying his son is 'the same child they were before — they just got a beard now. Okay! Same baby.'

The father of three, who is also dad to son Shawn, 22, and daughter Axl, 21 months added: 'Those are my babies. I went through the five stages of grief to get to the beautiful, magical place called acceptance.'

Asked what he had learned through the experience, he said: 'I learned that I'm a lot stronger than I thought I was. I learned that my family — my brothers, my sisters — have prepared me to be a rock in our family.'

Wayans also spoke about losing both his parents within the space of three years.

His mom Elvira Alethia died aged 81 in July 2020, while his father Howell Stouten died at 86 in April 2023.

He said: 'All this was happening to me at one time, and then it was just like this universal thing: acceptance. And once you accept, you release, give yourself to God and then everything is all right. It's better, actually.'